ROUND ROCK - A new 100,000-sf shopping center will be underway this fall at the current site of the Round Rock Garden Ridge store at 2800 S. I-35. The store is set to close Oct. 15.

Shortly thereafter, Austin developers Manny Farahani, Jimmy Nassour and Steve Portnoy, the site’s new owners, plan to begin tearing down the 40-year-old structure, which was originally constructed as an outlet mall.

The new center will feature about 100,000 sf for up to four anchor stores, 15,000 sf for smaller shops and to pad sites for freestanding buildings.

The project marks one of the first speculative shopping centers to be built in Central Texas in at least five years, according to Retail Connection’s Lance Morris. With retail occupancies in the area well above 90 percent, the owners believe the time is right to add new space to the market.

Despite the closure of the Round Rock store, Garden Ridge, which is in the process of changing its name to At Home, is still bullish on Central Texas, a spokeswoman said.

Two new stores will open this fall at the Stone Hill Town Center in Pflugerville and in the Cedar Park Town Center.